Boston College Men’s Hockey: A Closer Look at the Incoming Freshman Class

With the sting of the Boston College men’s hockey season ending on such an unceremonious note hopefully wearing off (not really!), we’re taking a look to the season ahead. We’ve done an overview of what the full roster might look like next season, so today we’ll be diving deeper into what the roster will be gaining in next year’s freshman class.

Of course, with the uncertainty of college hockey this far ahead of a season starting, all this information is subject to change (and likely will, since there are many incoming freshmen listed) as the team finalizes their roster going into next season.

First up, the forwards:

Cutter Gauthier will be joining BC from the USNTDP, where he currently has 46 points in 41 games. NHL Central Scouting has him ranked 6th amongst North American skaters, and draft projections have him getting picked mid-to-late in the first round of the 2022 NHL draft. Gauthier, who is 6’3, is described as a physical player that uses his size to his advantage and has a strong skating ability. He likely will be an immediate-impact player upon his arrival to BC, given his propensity for scoring goals and the fact that BC will be losing a huge chunk of their point production upon Jack McBain and Marc McLaughlin graduating.

Andre Gasseau is a Boston Bruins draft pick who currently plays for the Fargo Force, where he has 30 points in 46 games. Before playing for the Force, Gasseau played for the USNTDP, where he had 27 points in 42 games in 2020-21. At 6’4, his size will likely be an advantage for BC and college hockey in general, since he will be playing against older and bigger players than he’s used to in the USHL. Gasseau has had a pretty strong year with the Fargo Force, so he should also have an immediate impact on the team in the fall.

Oskar Jellvik is another Bruins draft pick who plays for Djurgårdens IF J20 of the J20 Nationell League in Sweden, where he currently has 55 points in 41 games. Jellvik announced his commitment to BC this past fall and has been having a great season so far, and likely will be looked to for offensive production. He’ll be the third Bruins pick on the BC roster in the fall, joining fellow incoming freshman Andre Gasseau and rising junior Trevor Kuntar.

Connor Welsh currently plays for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL, where he has 2 points in 13 games. Before that, he played for the Sioux City Musketeers and the Mid Fairfield Rangers, scoring 16 points in 11 games for the latter.

Tim Delay spent the 2021-22 season with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL, where he had 6 points in 41 games. Before that, he played two seasons at St. Sebastian’s, scoring 12 points in 29 games and 30 points in 28 games in his sophomore and junior seasons respectively, before not playing his senior season presumably due to the pandemic. Based on his point totals before the pandemic it’s reasonable to assume that Delay has scoring ability, so it remains to be seen if/where he’ll slot into a potential lineup in the fall.

Paul Davey plays for the Des Moines Buccaneers, where he currently has 18 points in 41 games. He also had 18 points in 41 games last year for the Buccaneers, and prior to that had 19 points in 25 games for Avon Old Farms. He’ll be 19 years old when he arrives at BC in the fall, so hopefully his age and experience benefits the roster as a whole.

Will Traeger spent the 2021-22 season with the Jersey Hitmen in the NCDC, where he had 42 points in 46 games. Despite being on the shorter side at 5’7, Traeger has put points up on every team he’s been on, scoring 25 points in 49 games during the 2020-21 season with the Minnesota Wilderness of the NAHL and the year prior to that scoring 48 points in 46 games as a senior at Shattuck St. Mary’s. BC has historically had luck with shorter forwards, so I’d be curious if Traeger could succeed at BC in the same way!

Now, onto the defensemen:

Seamus Powell spent the past two seasons at the USNTDP, and most recently had 11 points in 46 games as a member of the U18 squad. Going into the NHL draft, Powell is ranked 166th in North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, so if he does get drafted this year it’ll likely be in the later rounds. He’s described as a puck-moving defenseman which hopefully will benefit the Eagles as they lean on everyone for more offensive output. His older brother is rising junior defenseman Eamon Powell, so it’ll be exciting to have a pair of brothers on the Eagles, which hasn’t happened since the Mattila twins graduated in 2020.

Charlie Leddy also spent the past two seasons playing for the USNTDP, and had 13 points in 43 games on the U18 team. Leddy is ranked 84th in North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting and 95th by TSN’s Craig Button, so it’s possible that he gets picked by a team in the mid-to-late rounds of this upcoming NHL draft. He’s described as being a very defensively-sound player that plays physically and initiates breakouts — something that can definitely benefit the Eagles since one of their weaknesses has been defending in their own end and breaking out.

Lukas Gustafsson plays for the Chicago Steel, where he currently has 37 points in 50 games. He remains draft-eligible going into this year since he was undrafted last year, but was invited to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ development camp in 2021. Prior to playing for the Steel, Gustafsson had 9 points in 4 games as a senior at Cushing Academy in 2020-21, and before that had 44 points in 34 games. As an ‘02, Gustafsson will be coming in a little older, which should benefit him in NCAA play.

And last but not least, the goalie.

Dylan Silverstein will be joining BC from the USNTDP as well, where he has a .881 save percentage over 19 games played. NHL Central Scouting has him ranked third amongst North American goalies, but it’s unclear at what point he may get drafted. However, with the Eagles picking up an experienced goaltender in Mitch Benson from the transfer portal, it’s possible that Silverstein gets pushed back a season and does a year of juniors before arriving on campus. Elite Prospects currently has him slated for a Fall 2023 arrival, but we’ll have to keep an eye out for more details.

Other players that were originally on this list but have since either committed to a year of juniors or decommitted from Boston College are Billy Norcross (F), Nolan Joyce (D), and Grant Riley (G). Both Norcross and Joyce are committed to play in the BCHL for the Penticton Vees and the West Kelowna Warriors respectively, while Riley switched his commitment to Northeastern.

Overall, this seems to be a freshman class that is fairly well balanced, picking up three potential impact forwards in Gauthier, Jellvik, and Gasseau, and some depth forwards as well. The defensemen, should all of them adjust rather quickly to NCAA play, will likely also have a significant impact on the team. It’ll be interesting to see what the roster is when it’s finalized, due to BC likely picking up a few more transfers from the portal, but for now we can expect these players to be on campus in the fall.